FolsomNatural

Are there any English-language geocaching magazines around? One would think, considering the popularity of the sport, that there would be a huge demand for a monthly magazine, but I don't see any. I did once subscribe to a magazine, but it turned out to be a rip-off, bogus. And I know there is an on-line magazine (somewhere; need help on this), but I cannot find a hard-copy print version. What gives?

I once left an old 35-mm SLR camera. Probably worth about $70, but the new digital cameras are so much better, and I didn't know what to do with the old one.

Wow, EXCELLENT and informative thread. Thanks for all the valuable information.

How do you handle a visit to a cache that was essentially for training purposes in teaching others about geocaching? My grand-kids came up for a visit and I wanted to show them how geocaching works. We visited 3 caches that I had found previously. Took nothing, left nothing. Should I sign the log again? What I did was not sign the log, and left a "note" about the visit on the web site. Are there any rules or guidelines on "visitor" finds?

Couple things . . . 1. A cool site, and I plan to visit often. Although I cannot get a subscription. I entered all my data and mistakenly added a capital letter to the user name. EVERY time I correct it, it reverts (automatically filled-in) to the original entry with a capital letter, so I continually get the same error message and cannot break out of the loop. 2. I am still STUNNED there are no monthly printed magazines about Geocaching!?? What gives?

Generally, you cannot dictate when people search for a cache, but if your goal is to enable searches at night, you'll want to consider places that are lit up, or safe to search with a flashlight. (Well away from traffic, etc.) Many such series are in a loop or a straight line, although loops and circuits that start and finish near each other are common. You could start by searching sites near your house where not too many caches are currently present. I would study other series or sequential caches and see how the cache owners handled it. There is a loop near me, the BSLC loop, and you can read about it at GC37WYT to see how the CO handled it and modeled it after another pioneer. Check out the ET Highway loop too, in Nevada. It's all along Highway 375 in the Area 51 region. Finally, consider getting help from more experienced cachers. Even 20 caches is a lot, and you will need a variety of cache types, hiding places, and difficulty ratings to keep it interesting. Good luck.

Goal: To die with my face up (instead of in the mud) and coming OUT from finding the cache instead of on my way TO it. To get a T-shirt for Christmas that says "If you can read this, drag my body to Ground Zero and sign the log for me." SO many times I thought I was going to die on the hunt, that these modest goals would be a real accomplishment. If they DO find my body short of the target, I hope the GC community will festoon the burial site with trinkets and swag from the dollar store and turn my backpack into a geocache.

I think we got us a "Winner!" So far, anyway. Four weeks out of commission - Ouch! That's gotta sting!

Give yourself some time. When you have a few dozen caches under your belt you start to develop what they call a "geo-sense" which tells you how clever (some would say evil) the science of hiding things has become in this community. The art of taking common-appearing objects and turning them into a hiding place has evolved to an exquisite craftsmanship for many cache owners. After doing this a while you will come back to some of your "Did Not Find" cases and wonder how you could have missed it. That learning curse is part of the fun of the hobby. Generally the difficulty is pretty close to where it needs to be, but it is true that 1) some caches are not labelled correctly, and 2) some caches, especially magnetic nano, are easy for the experienced seeker, but head-pounding difficult for the beginner. Enjoy the ride!

Leaping lizard:

Found an old concrete slab, abandoned in a field. It had been used for a base for utility wires, and had 4 bolts in place in the corners. I glued some PVC pipe to a piece of wood and used the bolt to lock it in place.

I've noticed some members have really cool stat pages. I am a premium member. How do I get/use the alternative stats programs that I see others using? Are these 3-rd party applications?

Good question, and I'm sure there are many good answers. One of my favorites is to go to the local coin shop. They sell foreign coins by the pound. Foreign coins are great for their size and general interest. Most of my searching shows that caches are generally small, so tiny items are best and can be used in the greatest number of containers. I also like semi-precious stones that you can get by the pound in rock shops and on line. These include polished or tumbles stones (tiger's eye, jade, agate, etc.) and crystals (quartz, amethyst, copper, etc.) I have a cache with a lady-bug theme, and for that I spray painted a bunch of glass beads red, then put black and white dots on to make little lady bugs. This is easy and efficient and I've made so many they are now my "signature" item.

Ask me how many hours I was sitting in a chair watching TV before and after Geocaching. Ask me my cholesterol lever before and after. Ask me my weight before and after. Ask me how many friends I've met before and after. Ask me how many social events I went to before and after. Ask me how many new places, fantastic vistas, and eco-friendly challenges I have enjoyed every week before and after. Ask me the last time I felt like a kid again! Me completing the Gold Dredge Planking challenge.

MMMmmm! I have mixed feeling on this FTF hunt thing . . . On the one hand, if some people enjoy the challenge of collecting FTFs, that should be their right. On the other hand, I'm sick of seeing the same gizmo-laden nerds hogging all of them, and not giving at least a CHANCE for newbies to get their first prized FTF. I've looked at the new ones in my area, and the same 3 or 4 people claim about 95% of them. They have cell-phone apps that alert them in real time. I just wonder if they realize that it's a fun, family activity, and at least some of it should be shared with with kids, newbies, and grumpy old men like myself. It took be 5 months to get my first FTF.

Time zone is too broad, but longitude works. Altitude? I wonder which star(s) correspond to my right ascention and declination? I also wonder what is on the exact opposite side of the world from my location. That is, put a line from my house through the center of the earth, and where would it come out? I think in the ocean somewhere.

I was trying to think of a challenge where you post the name or a photo of a famous (or not-so-famous) location that is the same latitude as your home base. I'm in Folsom, CA, and my latitude is 38 degrees, 41 minutes. The only other major city at the same location is Cascais, Portugal, just outside of Lisbon. Wondering if/how I can make a challenge out of that. You would have to be within one minute latitude. Or maybe it's just fun to post here. What I did was go to http://gmaps-samples.googlecode.com/svn/trunk/geocoder/singlegeocode.html, entered my city, then continued to page right looking at what else was of interest at the same latitude. Only things I could find were St. Louis, MO, a small town in Tajikistan, and a mountain in Japan; but it was FUN! What did YOU find?

Thanks for the heads-up! I was wondering what happened to my subscription. I don't suppose there's any way of getting my money back. I have a cousin with no neck and a lazy eye - Luigi "Knee-Cap" Bracchio . . . maybe he can help.

That's a classic lament I hear often, and have experienced myself: really poor quality SWAG in the caches. I'm fortunate to be in that phase of my life where I realize I have everything I need, so I generally don't take anything from caches. At times, in a spurt of altruistic zeal, I will try to upgrade some of the neglected caches by replenishing them from the "SWAG bag" I carry in the back of my car. I have also decided to uplift my local area by planting caches close to home where I can monitor them frequently, and I often take out the junk and replace it with quality items. This results in the caches often getting "favorited" by visitor, as well as generating comments of appreciation from the community; more than enough reward for me. There's a saying: "Be the change you'd like to see." It really does pay off.

Like you, I found a family of frogs in a cache. Unlike you, I had taken the cache back to my car, so I could sign the log and add my swag items out of the rain. When I opened the cache the frogs jumped out and for all I know they are still living somewhere under that back seat. I was lucky that I never encountered a snake, but yesterday on the way to searching a rock wall, I heard a hissing sound like a lawn sprinkler coming on, then I noticed the rattle sound augmenting the hiss. Saw a slithering, striped beauty sliding away, but if I hadn't been careful it cudda ended badly.

I get what you're saying. I think there are several different approaches. 1. Make more interesting containers and puzzles. Like you find a crank handle, and it pulls a string, and a bucket is lifted from the bowels of a hollow tree, and music starts playing, and a loaded spring pops out, and there's good swag and signature items inside, . . . etc. 2. Make adventures. Find your favorite hike, say a hill-top on a park trail, and let the seeker see the vistas, enjoy nature, or provide some kind of historical, social, or even spiritual reward for making the effort to get there. 3.Better rewards. I know you cannot legislate this, but I sure would like to see caches with VALUE swag inside. Either take nothing or leave something that is worth $5.00 or more. I've tried this - - leaving some really cool items in the caches that I am CO for. It's really fun and rewarding for me, but eventually all the $3 to $5 items are replaced by plastic buttons, paper clips, and broken toys. I wish we could have a rule where if you want to participate in a particular cache you have to maintain the quality of the contents.

Start by entering the locations you will visit into the "Seek / Hide a Cache" section of this website, and look over the caches in the area. You can then select the closest or easiest to find. Also bring some small trade items to leave at the caches you visit. I find foreign coins, cheap jewelry, and small toys go a long way. Choose the easy-to-find caches. I was in Paris and listed 30 caches into my GPS, but they were all so difficult I came home with only ONE completed. Suggestion: Drop the cherry term; it's considered rude in family-oriented circles.

You've got it bad when . . . You reach the peak vista of a long hike, and instead of enjoying the view, you look around for a good place to hide a cache. You expose yourself to the risk of poison oak, snake bites, and twisted ankles simply because you want to log the higher difficulty hides. You get up at 5:00 AM, skip coffee and breakfast, put 40 miles on the car and ignore the wishes of the family because a new cache is listed and you want to log a First-to-Find.

I agree with MPilch. The majority of caches have limited log space, so long descriptions are not required. As a cache owner though, I really enjoy seeing the comments, experiences, and perceptions of the many folks who visit the cache. Especially if I've put some effort into making a theme or adventure out of the hide. Did the effort pay off for the searcher? Is the difficulty rating correct? Did they stop to admire the view? All these comments help, in the long run, to create better, more interesting caches.

I've been thinking about that a lot. I am toying with the idea of either an electric scooter, like the eZip 1000 or a bicycle conversion kit that would run off a lithium battery.